Puerto Amistad Restaurant and Marina (16)

Reserve your berth today. Reservations require one month payment in advance for either your anchorage or your buoy. We have limited space so insure your mooring by reserving today. We operate on first come basis.

Buoy Reservations

Or email us at:

Email Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Puerto Amistad Restaurant and Marina is located in Bahía de Caráquez, on Ecuador’s spectacular coast. Situated at the broad mouth of the Chone River where it empties into the Pacific Ocean. Bahía is a quiet Ecuadorian tourist destination, recently discovered by the cruising community. It has become an increasingly popular location for ex-pats looking for a beautiful and temperate place to retire.

Bahía is a wonderful place to visit in it's own right, and is also a perfect place to leave your boat while you travel north and south along Ecuador’s stunning coast or move inland to explore the incredible sites of the highlands of Ecuador, Peru, Brazil or the many other spectacular destinations in South America.

“Our goal was to create a place that was friendly and secure, in a place that is friendly and secure, and I think that we've accomplished this in Bahía. In other words, we didn't have to create a bunker enclosed place to leave your boat secure. Bahía is probably the safest place for your boat in South America! The second thing we wanted was a place the ordinary cruiser can afford, so we work hard to provide an excellent service at a good value.

We are fortunate to have received approvals for 15 new slips. These are scheduled to be built by the end of November 2018. We are building a Tidal Grid to give cruisers the opportunity to work on their boat in the dry. Estimated completion is September 2018.

If you wish to send an item to Ecuador we strongly recommend that you use DHL. They have customs services and will hold your item longer than the other courriers. . FEDEX, EMS. USPS and other courriers may be less cost to send, but processing through Customs may cost more. If you do not use DHL and you need help getting your item found or out of customs we will charge $25 per item for trying to help you with your item if you use and courier other than DHL. We have had bad experiences with other couriers in Ecuador.

Again, use DHL!

You should send the item to your name C/O Puerto Amistad using the address on the contact page.

We certainly hope that you come and visit; we're sure you'll love it as much as us.

Visa Requirements: Most cruisers will be able to enter Ecuador without obtaining a visa ahead of time. Check out this link from the Ecuadorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to see the requirements for you.

Please note that the harbor entrance is not buoyed at this time, and coupled with the currents that come with the area's 8-10 foot tidal range, it can be tricky. For that reason, it is REQUIRED by the Port Captain of Bahía that all incoming yachts enter with the Capitania's permission and with a qualified pilot aboard.Fisherman will offer to guide you in. Do Not Accept anyone other than a licensed pilot!But, not to worry, just approach to the waypoints given below, and call on VHF 69 for Puerto Amistad and we'll arrange for a pilot to come get you. Please note that the river shoals have changed since the DMA charts (below) were published, so approach from the West in order to avoid them. Please also be on the lookout for fishermen that work in the bay.

If at all possible, contact us by e-mail prior to your arrival so that we will be expecting you and you won't experience any avoidable delays. Please note that there is approximately 40cm more water than indicated on the tide tables, so check your arrival date with the tide tables if you have a deeper draft boat.

Waypoints:

WP0

00º 35.780S

080º28.300W

Virtual Sea Buoy

WP1

00º 35.805S

080º26.832W

"Waiting Room" Anchorage

Upon Arrival

When the pilot guides you in, you'll have the option to take a mooring or drop your own hook. A representative from the navy and health departmentmay visit you on the boat for a cursory inspection, and then you'll be free to come ashore. Come to our office and we'll give you the "lay of the land."

Check-In Procedure

The Ecuadorian Navy requires that all foreign flagged vessels be represented by an agency. In your case Puerto Amistad will perform that function. When you arrive, please make available to us originals of your ship's papers, passports, vaccination records, and zarpe from your previous port. We will scan them and return the originals quickly. We will coordinate your arrival with all appropriate authorities (Health ministry, Navy, Customs, and Immigration). We will make the process super-easy. You'll never have to leave the bar!

Immigration

You'll be given a 90 day multiple-entry visa upon arrival. The clock stops while outside the country. If you need additional time in Ecuador, we can help get a new visa with the ministry of foreign affairs. you will be applying for a visa extension and are a married couple or family, please bring marriage certificate and birth certificates with an Apostile on them.

Customs

Your boat will initially be allowed ninety days. Extensions are available for up to a year at additional cost. We will help you with the approvals of the extensions as needed.

Puerto Amistad Agency Checkin/Checkout

Let us do the work for you. Upon arrival an agency representative will greet you at your vessel. We will need your passports, Matricula (Vessel Title), and Zarpe.

The appropriate authorities will be contacted and inspections and boardings will be arranged. Normally the authorities will come the day following your arrival during the week, or if arrival on weekends or holidays the inspections will take place one working day after the holiday or weekend.

You will not need to make deposits for the various agencies nor travel to Manta. Just come in and relax and allow us to handle your Entrance Paperwork

Checkin/Checkout by Agency $350.00 In-Out International

$240.00 In/Out National

$300.00 In International/out National

Self Checkin Procedure.

Once arriving to Bahia de Caraquez you must contact the Port Capitin on channel 16.

After making contact and arranging for their boarding and inspection you will need to call Immigration in Manta to arrange their visit to check you in. Next, call Aduanas in Manta to arrange their inspection. And finally call Central Health to arrange an inspection.

Here are the documents you will need to do a self clear in. Remember, Country laws do not permit you to leave you vessel until all inspections are complete.

Once ashore you will need to go to the Port Capitans Office locted in front of Puerto Amistad will all of your documents. Here you will arrange payment for your entry to the port. There you will be gven the accont number to make a deposit to the bank for the payment to the port capitain.

Next, arrange a trip to Manta to make original signatures for Customs. Only the Capitain needs to go. Manta is 1 hour 40 minutes from Bahia de Caraquez by Taxi or you may go by bus.

That completes your self checkin.

Self Check-in Costs

Capitinia $40.66

Aduanas

Salud $ 5.00

Immigration $65.00 (50 transportation & $15 for processing)

Piloto $35.00

Panga for Authorities $ 5.00

INOCAR $0.30 per vessel ton

Checkout Procedure

Port Capitain with all of your entry documents.

Cost National $15 to $23

International $15 to $50

Next you will need to travel to Manta

Customs

You will need your temporary permission of customs that you received when you checked in and the copy of your Zarpe.

Immigration

Reciept of your payment of $15 at the bank of their choice.

Original Passports

Copy of Zarpe

Agency Letter from any of the agencies listed below

Maritime Agencies

BLUE OCEAN WEB

S.A. B.O.W

Av. Malecón y Calle 20 al lado Edif.“Altos del Mar” –

Manta 05-2621091 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Puerto Amistad is located in Bahía de Caráquez, known locally as simply "Bahía" just thirty six nautical miles south of the Equator. It's conveniently on the way for anyone leaving Panama bound for the Galapagos on the Coconut Milk Run. It's also a very safe place to leave your boat while you travel to the highlands of Ecuador, Peru, the rest of South America, or visit back home. Some people come and end up staying a year.

You'll find it's also the most economical, safe place, to leave your boat by far. Because Bahía is located in a dry tropical zone, your boat won't suffer from the mold and mildew that is rampant in wet tropical locations such as Panama. Also, tropical thunderstorms and their accompanying lightening is virtually unheard of here. If you're thinking of coming here from Panama, consider leaving early in the winter to take advantage of the northerly winds, then stay here until the southerly trades start and enjoy an easier sail to the Galapagos Islands.

Puerto Amistad Yacht Club is located after the bridge on the right while headed into town. Google Maps does not yet support an exact laocation for the Marina.

Welcome to Puerto Amistad, or the “Port of Friendship” in Spanish. We hope you come to visit us, but we have to warn you; Bahia is a "sticky port." You may find it hard to leave here once you've arrived. We're a case in point.

Our property, previously used as the ferry dock, had been abandoned and had become nothing more than a place where some drunks slept at night. It was filled with cans and bottles and stuff from the debris collected by the street sweepers. We had to rebuild all the pilings and beams as well as the sea walls and retaining walls because they were damged from the earthquake and lack of maintenance. We essentially had to redo the entire structure. Everything was repaired, rebuilt or at the very least, repainted.

Initially, the original business plan called for us to mostly operate the marina with a small grill serving hamburgers and hot dogs. Customers then came to us and said we needed to offer a more expanded menu. Now we've become known as the go-to restaurant specializing in steaks, seafood, and classic American food, and Maye is amazing in her ability to plan a custom event to recognize a special occasion.

The ground-breaking ceremony was held December 21, 2004. We offered our initial shore services (namely our excellent showers) in March and the first happy hour shortly after. The inauguration (Grand Opening) was celebrated on the 23 of September, 2005. Currently we have 22 massive moorings, a nice dinghy dock, a gorgeous restaurant and bar, a five star bathroom, showers, laundry, and an administrative office. We also have DirectTV in the bar so you can watch the Super Bowl or CNN if you have to have a news fix.

Our goal was to create a place that was friendly and secure, in a place that is friendly and secure, and I think that we've accomplished this in Bahía. In other words, we didn't have to create a bunker enclosed place to leave your boat secure. Bahía is probably the safest place for you personally, and for your boat in South America! The second thing we wanted was a place the ordinary cruiser can afford, so we charge work hard to provide an excellent service at a good value. We want as many people as possible to come, stay a long time, and enjoy the town

Kewl llama shot

Overview

Bahía de Caráquez is located just 36 nautical miles South of the Equator on the estuary of the Rio Chone. Puerto Amistad is located inside the estuary and boats are extremely well protected from ocean swell in a quiet anchorage. Bahía is a quiet tourist town that primarily caters to the middle and upper class of Quito that have vacation condos here and that visit during holidays. Bahía has amazingly mild weather and a low crime rate, so you can be sure that you and your boat will be safe during your stay. For those of you familiar the "Andy Griffith Show," I like to say that Bahía is Ecuador's Mayberry.

The Climate

You maybe thinking that because you're on the Equator that the weather is hot, sticky, and buggy. Nothing could be further from the truth. Since you'll most likely be coming from Panama and/or Costa Rica, you'll be in for a very pleasant surprise.

Here in Bahía, there has never been a hurricane or tropical storm, and lightning is extremely rare (The locals say lightning has never struck the ground in Bahía!) Bahía is in a dry tropical belt only about 60 miles wide; there are cactus growing on the hills here! As a result, you won't have mold growing on the walls of your boat as it does in Panama and Costa Rica. In the last couple of years, during what they call the rainy season, we have averaged an hour or two of light rain in the evening PER WEEK.

The average daytime temperature during the months of November through April is about 85 degrees with moderate humidity. For March through May temperatures are in the low 80's. June through October we have very low humidity and daytime temps of 70-75 degrees. In addition, the daily sea/land breeze pattern means that there's almost always a pleasant breeze. If you decide to stay later in the season (April-October) you'll find yourself reaching for a light blanket at night. It's great sleeping weather!

The People

The people of Bahía are the real treasure. Nowhere else in my travels have I found people so open, friendly, and willing to help. Although they are from very humble backgrounds, you won't feel panhandled and taken advantage of like you may have experienced in other countries. You'll feel safe and welcome walking the streets of Bahía; you'll likely have people trying out their few words of English as you walk down the malecon.

Things to Do

There's more to do than just work on your boat :)

Beaches - There's great shelling at Canoa. You may even stumble across a pre-Colombian artifact washed up on the shore.

Economy

You'll find Ecuador an inexpensive travel destination, plus they use the U.S. dollar as their currency.

The prices in the local restaurants, and also the rest of Ecuador, are very low. You can order an Almuerzo (the most for the least) which included soup, salad, rice, beans, with fish, meat, or chicken, and a fresh juice for around $3. A large beer (600 ml) costs $3 in most places.

To get someone work on your boat, expect to pay $10 perday for laborers, and $15-20 per day for journeymen.

To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen, who play with their boats at sea-"cruising," it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.

"I've always wanted to sail the South Seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the routine of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone.

What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense. And we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention from the sheer idiocy of the charade.

The years thunder by. The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.

Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?

From the beginning we didn't know much about Ecuador and the Ecuadorian people. But after three weeks here in Bahía and a trip to the Andes we know how beautiful this country is and how nice the people are. We have enjoyed your hospitality. For sure we will recommend this safe place to all our cruising friends.

-- S/V Circe, Denmark

Bahía & Ecuador - A very nice and friendly place and country. We have enjoyed the place and stayed much longer than planned.

Bahía de Caráquez is probably the best place along the Equator and South America to leave your boat for land travel in this beautiful country.

I have spread the word to other cruising sailors.

-- S/V Pacific Pearl, Sweden

After one month here in Bahía we sadly leave for the Galapagos and all points west until we return to New Zealand. The people of Bahía and Ecuador have made both of us welcome and have been friendly towards us also. We enjoyed our inland travel, and will leave with very fond memories of Ecuador and it's people.

-- S/V Seabride, New Zealand

I liked the place so much, I decided to swallow the hook and build a marina!

-- S/V Walkabout, United States

After wonderful eight weeks in Ecuador we are now ready to move on.

We are looking back to a most enjoyable time in Puerto Amistad and wish you all the best for the future development of your marina.

Many thanks and all the best!

--S/Y Saadine, Germany

"Puerto Amistad para servirle!" Much more than an advertising slogan... It's beautiful truth!

Thank you Maye and Tripp. We really enjoyed our stay in Bahía from December 26, 2004 to March 12, 2005. We wish you the best for your life and your business.

Muchas gracias tambien a Carlos y Roberto!

-- S/V Slow Motion, Switzerland

We have had a great two weeks in Bahia. It's been good to be here at the beginning of a fantastic project. Thanks to all the staff and the management for all their help.

The world is a small place and we shall return.

S/V Tacks, Ireland

Bahía, an excellent and interesting place. Look for fossilized shark's teeth on the beach to the South. They're BIG!

Good times all around. Too bad I didn't get to see the grand opening. I wish you the best.

S/V Dreamland, United States

Thank you for still taking time to be very good hosts - even while you're so busy getting your marina built. The service has been excellent. We will spread the good news on Bahía.

S/V Citation, Canada

Pat and I are very thankful for your assistance, support, and congeniality - but most of all for your continued kindness and humor.

We wish you the best in making Puerto Amistad a center of attraction for locals and visiting cruisers. We were glad to see it in it's establishment stages and look forward to visiting again after it's completion.

Thanks and we'll spread the word of Puerto Amistad and staff.

--S/V Crusader, United States

Thank you all for your warm welcome when we came in unexpectedly. We'd like to stay longer but can't change our plans. Puerto Amistad is one of the few places we'll recommend to our friends and without any doubt is going to have a great future.

--S/V Pura Vida, Germany

Once again thanks a lot for your advice, friendly words, enthusiasm, etc. etc. We found Bouskoura in a perfect state when we returned from our inland trip. You're doing a lot of good work. A perfect job! Hope all things will succeed for Puerto Amistad. We enjoyed it very much and we're thankful to meet people like you both and your wonderful staff.

--S/V Bouskoura II, Holland

First five months and back for another month. Bahía and her folk are wonderful, friendly, and quite welcoming. Thank you for a wonderful experience and lovely memories!

--S/V Perigrinata, Canada

From June, 2004 to May, 2005 we left "Incognita" in the safe hands of our new friends Tripp and Maye. It has been a wonderful experience, great location to leave your boat for extended visits to the SA continent. The marina is developing at a rapid rate and we wish Puerto Amistad continued success in the coming years. Tripp "The Man" and Maye "Our Smiling Angel." Thank you so much for all of your help during our time here. The word is out. This is "THE" place. Stay healthy and happy.

--S/V Incognita, Canada

It's kind of sad: we leave tomorrow for Patagonia and leave you guys behind. Not only that: we will miss your wedding celebration and party. That hurts most!

You are creating a good place here for sailors. We will make promotion for you. There will be many more Germans, so beware of them :)

Thank you so much for your hospitality. We hope to see you again in a couple of years. And then we hope you have a big family. OK Maye?

A fter:The Garden

Old Banos

Before: Vista del Mar

Before/During

Before/During

More...

Puerto Amistad Yacht Club is located in Bahía de Caráquez, Ecuador. Bahía de Caráquez a quiet Ecuadorian tourist destination recently discovered by the cruising community.

Bahía is a wonderful place to visit in it's own right, and is also a perfect place to leave your boat while you travel inland to see the incredible sites of the highlands of Ecuador, Peru, or even all of South America.

Take our order please

Yummy Drinks

Puerto Amistad has become an event center for locals, expats and cruisers, alike. We can serve small private parties and large events of 200 or more. Birthdays, anniversaries and holidays are often celebrated at Puerto Amistad by locals and expats.

We try to offer celebrations for all major holidays. Cruisers and expats often leave family behind so we want Puerto Amistad to be their holiday home by offering special meals for those special days.

If you're interested in celebrating a special day with us, please drop by and talk to Maye who will assist you in planning the perfect event.